Life span of an installed system

[Ric]

Hi All,

I've already posted this on Pro Sound Web forums, but the more opinions the better !


I'm in the proccess of planning a sound system overhaul in our small 477 seat theatre. As we're a Local Government run centre as you can imagine it's a long process to gain funds, so we have to budget for upcoming years.

I was hoping to get some professional input in the expected life span of an installed system.
Our installation is fixed, there is no de-rigging of speakers and its a very clean Theatre, opened in 2001.
The amplifiers are in a good, relatively dust free environment and are yearly vaccuumed and tested.

The currently installed sound system components are:
Auditorium Speakers
2 x Tannoy B475 (Subwoofers)
4 x Tannoy Superdual T300 (Main & Delayed; 1 either side of Proscenium, 1 either side on F.O.H Bridge)
Sidefill Speakers
2 x Quest QS500 with stands.

Floor/Spot Foldback Speakers
2 x Tannoy T12
Amplifiers
Main speakers, Crown K2, 2 Channel, 500 W + 500 W @ 8 ohms
Sub speakers Crown K2, 2 Channel, 500 W + 500 W @ 8 ohms
Delayed speakers Crown K2, 2 Channel, 500 W + 500 W @ 8 ohms
Side fill: Yamaha P3500, 2 Channel, 350 W + 350 W @ 8 ohms
Floor/spot : Yamaha P3200S, 2 Channel, 340 W + 340 W @ 8 ohms

Speaker Processing & distribution
Soundweb System controller provides processing for all FOH Speakers. It incorporates system limiting protection, parametric equalization, and time delaying bridge to proscenium speakers.
TX2 or TX3 Tannoy loudspeaker system controller, speaker equalisation, sub high/low pass splitting for Main speakers and Subs.

My major question is:
What is the expected life span of any system?
Speakers are technically a moving part so will wear out, amplifiers have technology which dates, so parts will be come scarce at some stage. I know the SoundWeb has been superceded.

Should I plan to replace certain aspects such as amplifiers or speakers every 5 years, or 10 etc. ? Or as they fail, meaning there will possibly be mismatching elements?

I am currently leaning to replace solid state/software/hardware items every 5 years or so, and speakers every 10, but I have no solid data to justify it.
What are your thoughts?

[museav]

I believe that it can depend upon many things. Some of it depends upon the use and even that can be deceptive, a system run hard but by people who know how to do so properly may see less actual abuse than a system that on the surface appears to get less harsh use but actually may get more abuse due to less skilled operators and users. Items such as Digital Signal Processors continually evolve but while a unit may be replaced, supplanted or even stop being supported, that doesn't mean that it may not work just as well as it did on day one. However, the programming and control software may not run on current computer Operating Systems or there may be new devices that offer greater functionality or capabilities. Devices such as speakers and amps may become harder to get serviced or to get parts but they may also function without problems for many years, there are plenty of 20 and even 30 year old systems still using the original amps and speakers.

What I find actually drives system obsolescence is often not equipment obsolescence but rather changes in needs or expectations. How a system is used, the type or scale of events, the expectations for the sound system performance and so on tend to vary over time and often after a few years a system may no longer meet the needs of the venue even if the equipment is fine. Thus the effective life of a system is often not a matter of component failures or problems but rather of needing to revise the system to meet new needs, expectations and challenges.

Also keep in mind that when thinking of replacing speaker systems it is often not just a matter of throwing up some other speakers in place of the existing ones, it may also entail design, installation, rigging, tuning and other related services. The same idea applies to DSP devices, you can't just plug a new DSP in place of the existing one, it would have to be programmed, adjusted, etc. New mixers or amps may require adjusting the system gain structure and levels and so on. So don't limit yourself to thinking in terms of the equipment, also consider the 'soft' costs and services that may be related to those items. In fact, in some cases it may be that a god 'going through' of the system may due more to improve performance and extend the effective life of the system than replacing equipment.